Transcript of Radio Show #349:
Event #5, Galilean Ministry of Jesus, Part 3
from “the Four Gospels series by events" based on the book "Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels"

Radio Show...

This program continues on various series of different topics on theology such as end times, prophecies, daily living, etc. as the subject matter comes up.

The e-book on End times, Prophecies and Revelation, answering the questions “where are we in the events of the end times?” and “Are we now in the tribulation?” is available on this web site, which you can find throughout the pages.

Opening Narrative

Hello and welcome to another exciting radio program today on end times and prophecies and scriptures to live by... which is all about old-time gospel and worship music, praying for needs and preaching the Word of God....

And remember this radio programs Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched is broadcast every Sunday at 7 am and 7 pm pacific time... and if you unfortunately miss it for whatever reason at any time, you can hear the program any time after that for 4 weeks...at my web site TimingRevelation.com

So, we continue today in the new series started a few weeks ago, based on my book “The Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels”...

And I did mention to you before that with this series begins the start of the 8th year of these radio programs Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched.

As you already know In this series we look at the four gospels in a new light as they are presented by chronological events taking place within the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which are presented separately in the Bible ...

It is all the same gospel.... but in chronological order of events taking place, which lets us hear or see side by side who reported and what each said on these events taking place in the gospels.

You will recall if you were with us in the last couple of weeks, there are 9 particular events that we are looking at – if you miss any program at any time, remember, they are replayed on my web site TimingRevelation.com for up to four weeks.

So the 9 events we're looking at in this series are:

#1—Pre-human existence of Christ
#2 – Pre-natal to Jesus's Incarnation
#3-- Birth and Childhood of Christ
#4-- Beginning of Jesus' ministry...

...Which we have covered up to here so far, including Jesus' returning into Galilee, where He healed the nobleman's son in Cana...

So this takes us now to the continuation of our events, still in Part 1 of event #5, Galilean ministry of Jesus, interestingly, where Jesus delivered His longest ministry in terms of time and events taking place...

Future events left to come:
#6-- Judean and Perean ministry of Jesus
#7-- Jesus' last week
#8-- Jesus' last 6 hours
#9-- From the Resurrection to the Ascension

And we will get right to it after this opening music, prayer and worship time...

Prayer
Praise God Doxology
Worship music

Narrative 1

Alright so let's move on with the reading of our Lord's Beatitudes ...

Some of you may be wondering where the word “Beatitudes” come from. It is not found in the Bible. It is a reference word given by the early church fathers pointing to the words of our Lord Jesus on the “blessedness” of related scriptures in the Sermon on the Mount.

As you will recall from last week's program, the words “blessed” used in that famous sermon of the Lord comes from the Hebrew and Greek words meaning “blessed, happy, and fortunate” all rolled into one, which equivalent word we do not have in our English language.

So, getting back to where we are in our coverage of the Sermon on the Mount, we left off last week with verses 27 to 30, where Jesus spoke the words, “... But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

And of course in all this issue of adultery, the same rule goes for both man and woman.

Now we will go into the next verses which speak of adultery within the marriage commitment...

And this is the most difficult and controversial because of the nature of its topic.

So, Matthew 5, verses 31 to 32:

31 “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

32 “But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

The word “saving for” in that scripture means “except for”, so “except for the cause of fornication”.

The New King James, reads this way,

“But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

Again, notice the “exception clause”, “for any reason except sexual immorality”

And also in the Complete Jewish Study Bible, it reads:

32_“But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of fornication, makes her an adulteress; and that anyone who marries a divorcee commits adultery.

We also have this confirmed in Luke 16:18,

“Whosoever puts away his wife, and marries another, commits adultery: and whosoever marries her that is put away from her husband commits adultery.

Notice: “Puts away and marries” another... two verbs combining into one action.

The big issue in all of this subject matter is the statement after the exception clause in the above quoted scriptures:

“...and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery”.... (Old King James)

“...and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”... (New King James)
“...and that anyone who marries a divorcee commits adultery.”... (Complete Jewish Bible)

So this issue is not about “divorce” only, but is about “divorce and remarriage” combined.

This issue is often wrongly understood by many in the church today, which is the reason why the teaching is confusing. The issue is “not” just about divorce -- it is about “divorce and remarriage”.

The Bible does not say that if one is abused in a marriage that one cannot divorce but has to stay in the marriage. Of course not, if a spouse is abused bodily or psychological, or any other way, one can divorce.. But the issue is that one cannot remarry,

(But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife..) (1 Corinthians 7:11).

The only time that one can remarry (the exception clause) is in the case of being victimized of infidelity by a spouse.

And there is a lot more in the Bible about this whole important subject matter, This issue is also covered extensively in Matthew 19:9, Mark 10:11, Luke 16:18, 1 Corinthians 7:10, 11... and also in the Old Testament...

... however this would take a whole program by itself – or even a whole seminar indeed! Hopefully if you are in such a situation, your church has the pastoral capability to teach and lead you in the right direction, otherwise do find a pastor/church well versed in the Scripture in order to receive the correct help and direction.

This is why I mentioned at the beginning of these specific scriptures on adultery, that this matter is one difficult and controversial issue. Many teachers and pastors skip over these hard scriptures. However such is the burden of the teaching of the Word of God in a systematic way -- one cannot skip over these issues because they are difficult, controversial and/or even sometimes confrontational.

Station ID

Narrative #2

Alright, so let's move on to the next scriptures in the Sermon on the Mount, these ones to do with taking oaths, verses 33 to 37, still in Matthew 5...

On taking an oath:

33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

Interestingly, this word “foreswear” is used only once, right here in verse 33 of Matthew 5.

This scripture refers to Leviticus 19:12, which says: ”And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.”

And here the word in the Hebrew means, “to swear, to take an oath”, and is used some 186 times in the old testament...

So, v. 33_ “Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear (swear falsely) thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

So, we see the meaning of this verse very clearly – don't swear at all, according to Jesus and for good reason. I like what it says in the Liberty Commentary bible:

“The Christian is not to take an oath by heaven, earth”, etc., nor “on the basis of his own head or any other physical feature. He is to speak the truth in such a way that his 'yes' means yes and his 'no' means no.”

Go the extra mile:

Continuing on, let's look at verses 38 to 42, about going the extra mile:
and I will read this one from the New King James which is clearly self-explanatory:

v. 38_ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

39_But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

40_ If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.

41_ And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

42_ Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

Wow, this is a tough one also... I think that in earlier times, this was more common among people. I remember growing up, people were more ready and willing, more available to help their neighbours... now it's hard to even find someone within any given church who seems to be accessible, reachable or even extendable when help is needed.

We have become too busy and too overwhelmed with today's living to even follow-up on our neighbours needs. Often for the reason that it might cost us too much commitment.

Alright let's go on.... about Loving our neighbour, verses 43 to 48

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?

So what is refers to is that tax collectors were as a class, detested not only by the Jews, but by other nations as well, both because of their occupational harshness, greed, and deception, with which they did their work.

48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

The word "perfect" here is to be taken within the context of love in a mature sense of the word as the children of God that we are, to be kind and loving as representative of the most High God.

Narrative #3

And now we get into chapter 6 of the book of Matthew...

Matthew 6, verses 1 to 4:

Jesus teaches on charitable giving.

1_“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Wow that's interesting...

2 “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

3 “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 “that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. Verses 1 to 4.

Message and meaning quite clear here.

Next, verses 5 to 9 – still in Matthew chapter 6...

Jesus teaches on prayer:

5_“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

That is really nice to know... it is very encouraging... we can do that and pray humbly...

7 “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

Again message quite clear...

Now Verses 9 to 13:

On How to Pray
and this is the teaching of The Lord's Prayer:

and I will read this from the Old King James Bible:

9 After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

And then Jesus says in the next verses, 14 and 15:

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Again clear message—every word meaning what it says... except for verse 13, I think could need some clarification...

some people wonder why this scripture would be in here, since God does not tempt us...

the word actually means, trial, testing... it is the same word as we find in the book of
Revelation, chapter 3 and verse 10, which says:

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try (or to test) them that dwell upon the earth.

And let's read the next verses on Fasting:

verses 16 to 18:

16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

So that's interesting... it is like prayer, we have almost the same words, the Father hears in secret and rewards in secret... and also, the reason why the hypocrites make a big thing out of it, they want to show because they think it's all a spiritual thing...

and again, this is very interesting... because I have been doing a lot of research and study on the subject of fasting for health reasons...

and during that time, I realized why the Bible has so much to say about fasting. It's not only a spiritual thing, it is a very important practice, providing very positive effects on aspects of health like blood sugar control, blood pressure, Inflammation, etc, etc....

and I wont' get into all that here right now, except to say that, I remembered that all the Lord's feasts include a time of fasting... that means every few months throughout each year, the people of God had to fast... then they could feast alternatively afterwards.

In my time of research on the subject of the health benefits of fasting, I learned that, scientifically, indeed our body was made for “fasting and feasting”.

And with this, we are out of time... so we will pick up from here next week to continue our journey through the famous, spiritual and heavenly “Sermon on the Mount” as delivered by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ...

Music interlude...

Closing Narrative…

Oh how wonderful to appreciate what Jesus has done in our lives to save us from sin by Grace... and how He continues to keep us by His on-going and unlimited Grace...

...that wonderful Grace that comes into our life the moment that we receive Him as for who He is -- the Saviour of mankind and of every individual like you and me personally...

... and this Jesus the Son of God who came to give His life for you and me is the same Jesus who's life we've been reading about in these series of programs right now, and who's death on the cross we will see as we go through the gospel story to where He gave Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God that took the sin of the world...

...but right now, the question is:

...do you know this Jesus that we're talking about? If you don't know the Lord...

...Just say this prayer, “Lord come into my heart, come into my life, I turn to you right now and ask for forgiveness, I repent of my sins and receive your work on the cross... I receive your gospel as it was delivered through your blood shed on the cross in my place, and I thank you, Amen...

Before I dismiss the service today, I want to read to you the Blessing that was read to the people of God in Numbers 6:24-26 which is the benediction from God to you today:

“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

I hope and pray that you will come back next Sunday at SpiritFM.ca, 7 am and 7 pm pacific time. And if you want to hear the service again at any time, you can go to my website at TimingRevelation.com, and click on the Radio Shows navigational tab along the left side. The replays are available there for five weeks, then they are transcribed into articles as new radio shows are put up.

I encourage you to go to your Bible and read further on the scriptures that were given throughout the program today. And if you like these programs and you've been blessed, call or write the station and let them know... if you said the prayer and have accepted the Lord or you've been healed or touched in some way by the Holy Spirit, write to me on the contact form of this web site...

...and this web site is also where you will find the Free Offer of the “Christian Growth and Maturity Chart” that I talked to you about in the last weeks... you will see the graphic on any page called “Get your free CGM Chart”, click on it and it will take you to a page that will tell you about it and how you can subscribe to my newsletter to get your free copy of the Chart sent to you.

Until next week, Maranatha, the Lord is coming, very soon. Goodbye and Blessing.

/DMH

Click here to hear the song "Sinners Saved by Grace".

/DMH

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Blessings,